68,904 research outputs found
Will 5G See its Blind Side? Evolving 5G for Universal Internet Access
Internet has shown itself to be a catalyst for economic growth and social
equity but its potency is thwarted by the fact that the Internet is off limits
for the vast majority of human beings. Mobile phones---the fastest growing
technology in the world that now reaches around 80\% of humanity---can enable
universal Internet access if it can resolve coverage problems that have
historically plagued previous cellular architectures (2G, 3G, and 4G). These
conventional architectures have not been able to sustain universal service
provisioning since these architectures depend on having enough users per cell
for their economic viability and thus are not well suited to rural areas (which
are by definition sparsely populated). The new generation of mobile cellular
technology (5G), currently in a formative phase and expected to be finalized
around 2020, is aimed at orders of magnitude performance enhancement. 5G offers
a clean slate to network designers and can be molded into an architecture also
amenable to universal Internet provisioning. Keeping in mind the great social
benefits of democratizing Internet and connectivity, we believe that the time
is ripe for emphasizing universal Internet provisioning as an important goal on
the 5G research agenda. In this paper, we investigate the opportunities and
challenges in utilizing 5G for global access to the Internet for all (GAIA). We
have also identified the major technical issues involved in a 5G-based GAIA
solution and have set up a future research agenda by defining open research
problems
Opportunities and limitations of crop phenotyping in southern european countries
ReviewThe Mediterranean climate is characterized by hot dry summers and frequent droughts.
Mediterranean crops are frequently subjected to high evapotranspiration demands,
soil water deficits, high temperatures, and photo-oxidative stress. These conditions
will become more severe due to global warming which poses major challenges to the
sustainability of the agricultural sector in Mediterranean countries. Selection of crop
varieties adapted to future climatic conditions and more tolerant to extreme climatic events
is urgently required. Plant phenotyping is a crucial approach to address these challenges.
High-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) helps to monitor the performance of improved
genotypes and is one of the most effective strategies to improve the sustainability of
agricultural production. In spite of the remarkable progress in basic knowledge and
technology of plant phenotyping, there are still several practical, financial, and political
constraints to implement HTPP approaches in field and controlled conditions across the
Mediterranean. The European panorama of phenotyping is heterogeneous and integration
of phenotyping data across different scales and translation of “phytotron research” to the
field, and from model species to crops, remain major challenges. Moreover, solutions
specifically tailored to Mediterranean agriculture (e.g., crops and environmental stresses)
are in high demand, as the region is vulnerable to climate change and to desertification
processes. The specific phenotyping requirements of Mediterranean crops have not
yet been fully identified. The high cost of HTPP infrastructures is a major limiting factor,
though the limited availability of skilled personnel may also impair its implementation in
Mediterranean countries. We propose that the lack of suitable phenotyping infrastructures
is hindering the development of new Mediterranean agricultural varieties and will negatively
affect future competitiveness of the agricultural sector. We provide an overview of the
heterogeneous panorama of phenotyping within Mediterranean countries, describing the
state of the art of agricultural production, breeding initiatives, and phenotyping capabilities
in five countries: Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey. We characterize some of the main impediments for development of plant phenotyping in those countries and identify
strategies to overcome barriers and maximize the benefits of phenotyping and modeling
approaches to Mediterranean agriculture and related sustainabilityinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
From television to multi-platform: less from more or more for less?
This article examines economic aspects of convergence and of multi-platform expansion
in the media sector. Focusing on television broadcasters in the UK, it analyses the recent
migration of conventional media towards multi-platform strategies and asks whether digitization
is making content delivery more resource–intensive than before or whether it is facilitating greater
efficiency. Findings suggest that adaptation to a multi-platform outlook on the part of conventional
media requires investment in staffing and re-versioning of content. Funding this, especially in a
period of economic downturn, has encouraged a more selective approach towards content, with
concomitant implications for diversity. Notwithstanding generally low commercial returns from
online activities so far, the potential economic advantages to be had from multi-platform are
significant. The experience of UK broadcasters suggests a well-executed ‘360-degree’ approach to
commissioning and distribution will increase the value that can be realized from any given universe
of content, partly because of extended opportunities for consumption of that content, but also
because modes of engagement in a digital multi-platform context allow for an improved audience
experience and for better signalling of audience preferences back to suppliers
Inefficiencies in Digital Advertising Markets
Digital advertising markets are growing and attracting increased scrutiny. This article explores four market inefficiencies that remain poorly understood: ad effect measurement, frictions between and within advertising channel members, ad blocking, and ad fraud. Although these topics are not unique to digital advertising, each manifests in unique ways in markets for digital ads. The authors identify relevant findings in the academic literature, recent developments in practice, and promising topics for future research
iTETRIS: An Integrated Wireless and Traffic Platform for Real-Time Road Traffic Management Solutions
Wireless vehicular cooperative systems have been identified as an attractive solution to improve road traffic management, thereby contributing to the European goal of safer, cleaner, and more efficient and sustainable traffic solutions. V2V-V2I communication technologies can improve traffic management through real-time exchange of data among vehicles and with road infrastructure. It is also of great importance to investigate the adequate combination of V2V and V2I technologies to ensure the continuous and costefficient operation of traffic management solutions based on wireless vehicular cooperative solutions. However, to adequately design and optimize these communication protocols and analyze the potential of wireless vehicular cooperative systems to improve road traffic management, adequate testbeds and field operational tests need to be conducted.
Despite the potential of Field Operational Tests to get the first insights into the benefits and problems faced in the development of wireless vehicular cooperative systems, there is yet the need to evaluate in the long term and large dimension the true potential benefits of wireless vehicular cooperative systems to improve traffic efficiency. To this aim, iTETRIS is devoted to the development of advanced tools coupling traffic and wireless communication simulators
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